There wasn’t much empty talk about pulling up socks for the next one and there wasn’t much back-to-the-wall banter that comes with the precarious territory of standing 60 minutes from the end of the line.

All that mumbo jumbo about rising to the occasion and battling their hearts out didn’t have to be spoken. The Ducks know where they stand, which is in a spot as comfortable as in a puddle of gasoline at a fireworks show.

The Ducks know what will be at stake tomorrow night in Game 6 against the Devils, who took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven championship series last night. And still, there was a peculiar confidence in them as they all stood and spoke about sucking it up and letting it all hang out to force a Game 7.

“We’re coming out to win a hockey game,” Steve Thomas said.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, one loss from the end of their season and the end of this magical run that landed them here in the Stanley Cup Finals, know the situation they’re in and they don’t seem all that afraid of the challenge.

“We’re just excited to be part of that,” Jean-Sebastien Giguere said after surrendering some wacky goals off bounces, deflections and his own teammates. “We’re going to forget about this game and show up at the next game.”

The Cup will be in the building tomorrow, and even that reminder won’t shake these Ducks.

“Obviously we need to win. I don’t think we’ll be too rattled by that,” Steve Rucchin said. “We have to win and that’s what we expect to do.”

While history says 13 of the last 17 Game 5 winners in series that was tied 2-2 have won the Cup, there are exceptions. Colorado lost Game 5 to the Devils in 2001 and won two straight games for the Cup. Before that, the last time a team accomplished such a feat was in 1971 when Montreal came back against Chicago.

“We’re still in a good spot,” Rucchin said. “We’re right there. We have two wins. They have three – it’s the first to four.”